Video: Star Wars The Force Awakens Q&A with J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan!

JJDirector J.J. Abrams discussing the making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with co-writer Lawrence Kasdan.

 

This is really an awesome discussion. Some of the topics have already been covered in the last few days, but it’s very cool to watch to the whole thing instead of reading about it:

 

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

172 thoughts on “Video: Star Wars The Force Awakens Q&A with J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan!

    • December 22, 2015 at 7:13 pm
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      Because that’s a Fox thing.

      • December 23, 2015 at 12:41 am
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        I guess the video didn’t work for you? There’s a Lucasfilm made fanfare that’s been used the past year on the streaming versions of the movies that wasn’t used for the new movie.

  • December 22, 2015 at 6:21 pm
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    Can I get a question in? Dear JJ/Kasdan: Did your 12 year old nephew write the Starkiller base plotline? Do you feel like a theif for stealing all the ideas for TFA from Lucas’s OT? And finally do you think Kylo Ren is the biggest pussy bad guy in the history of Cinema?

    Oh and sorry one last thing: Can I get the 2.2 hours of my life back and a refund?

    • December 22, 2015 at 6:33 pm
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      Cool. No problem. I guess we won’t be seeing you around here anymore. Take care. Buh-bye. (I’ll give you the $11 bucks back if you leave.)

    • December 22, 2015 at 6:56 pm
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      I agree, leave the the star wars universe in disgust, find a new hobby that doesn’t live up to your prickish expectations. It’s just a movie.

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:07 pm
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      I wonder if any interviewer will have the balls to ask JJ, Kasdan or Kennedy about why they copied Star Wars straight out on so many plot points ?? Where’s the originality ? So disappointed !

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:12 pm
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      merry christmas

    • December 22, 2015 at 10:18 pm
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      Unlike you i really like the film, but i absolutely hate that starkiller thing, and not because of it’s death star connotations, but because it’s the most ludicrous concept I’ve ever seen, and not just in a star wars film, but any film. Why couldn’t the threat have been that star destroyer and a few smaller one’s??!! Apart from that the film really works for me, sets up the next installments brilliantly.

    • December 23, 2015 at 8:46 pm
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      You spend more time on forums posting negative stuff about Star Wars and no one is asking you too. If you want your 2.2 hours back why waste more time on these forums? Someone paying you? You know these are just movies right?

  • December 22, 2015 at 6:41 pm
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    Why the hell did he decide to , and I quote ” start with a character in the desert and end with a trench run”…we’ve seen that before ..it was called Star Wars…missed opportunity, everything else was so good..who signed off on that recycled plot ? I blame KK

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:01 pm
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      I agree. There was no need to copy Star Wars. It was so good otherwise. Sure there has to be a starting point, a threat etc etc. What is so hard to make them different and original ?? Why JJ, why ?? Even my son mentioned this on the way out of the theater.

  • December 22, 2015 at 6:51 pm
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    Hey JJ! Can i ask a quesion?!

    How is it that an untrained young scavenger could trounce a sith warrior TRAINED by both Luke and Snoke?

    Oh….and one more question, I promise.

    Was this really the best script both of you numbskulls could come up with after travelling the Earth?

    Thanks!

    • December 22, 2015 at 6:56 pm
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      Were you even watching the movie? L0L

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:21 pm
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        I was. Unless you can tell me where it says she was trained? Maybe I missed it. Please remind me where in the film it explains how she is able to use jedi mind tricks and is amazing with a lightsaber.

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:24 pm
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          SHe already knows how to use a staff. It’s not difficult skills with a staff to a saber.

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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            What’s cool is if you watch the second half of that fight, it looks as if she’s using the saber as if it was her staff. Its a small detail.

            I’m calling she tries to build a double-bladed saber in the next film 🙂

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:59 pm
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            Hmmm….i thought being proficient with a lightsaber is something Jedi were able to do only?

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:45 pm
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            That was actually an assumption. Unless its stated so in a canon book.

            Also, General Lizard Cyborg (who’s only canon is Clone Wars and ROTS – only mentions ‘trained’ by Dooku).

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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          It wasn’t shown or told that she was trained. It was shown and told that there is a lot about her past we don’t know. That was the whole point of her story. Do you need everything handed to you on a silver platter?

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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            No, but I would like it to be alluded to.

            It is irresponsible writing to make a FILM….not a tv episode….a FILM where you leave too many things in the mystery box.

            Out of nowhere, some scavenger just manages to be the most amazing jedi ever.

            Lazy writing.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:11 pm
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            Dude, Straw Man argument again. Cool it with that.

            No one says she became the most amazing Jedi ever. We all saw Yoda Fight Dooku, and Rey didn’t show anything close to that potential.

            What happened was a person strong in the force with an unknown past beat another person who gets his strength from the dark side (who was wavering in this minutes earlier) and was already wounded and already fought another person.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:02 pm
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            This other person he fought…was Finn right? A guy who worked as a janitor when being a stormtrooper?

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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            He worked as a janitor when he was stationed at Starkiller Base. He was obviously trained to fight, as we saw him deployed on Jakku and use his war training to great effect on Takkodona. Military personnel can be given different duties at different times and it doesn’t mean they are unqualified for other tasks.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:18 pm
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            Her flashback scene with Yoda, Luke, and Obi-Wan wasn’t enough for you? That spoke volumes as to her abilities…a la Qui-Lan Vos.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:55 pm
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            It was a flashback that did not tell me she was trained or special. Just showed a variation of images.

            So we see her as a girl getting stranded…we are supposed to do all the work ourselves?

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:58 pm
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            We are all doing ourselves a disservice calling it a flashback.

            It is a force vision. The fact that it even happens is supposed to imply that she is strong in the force, and strongly connected in some way to that weapon, and in turn, to its previous owners.

            It shows the past, the future, you hear the voices of masters long gone.

            So no, you don’t have to do all the work yourselves, they gave us quite a bit. But they are asking you to make some inferences.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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            Dude you are reading every comment on here because you still live in your mothers basement? hahaha. Loser get a life. You keep arguing every comment because deep down you are frustrated that your life is exactly the opposite of what you want it to be. Never look in the mirror….YOU WILL HATE YOURSELF!

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:57 pm
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            When you finally get a brain, please get back to me.

          • December 23, 2015 at 2:41 am
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            Yes. It’s called having a brain with the ability to put things together for yourself.

            2+2=4. You can start your training there, pup.

          • December 23, 2015 at 12:13 am
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            There’s plenty of precedent: Young people, *without any training*, sitting down at a piano and paying beautifully.
            They’re called PRODIGIES. They have NATURAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES.
            They’re what we mean when we say, “The Kid’s a natural!”

        • December 22, 2015 at 8:03 pm
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          What is clearly explained is that she is strong in the Force and, also, that she menages to defeat Ren because
          A) She is a good fighter
          B) She “attunes” herself with the Force and this causes
          C) Kylo Ren to lose his focus (basically, she uses his fear against him) and
          D) He is already badly injured

          That said, the prejudicial approach you are taking clearly invalidates any point you can try to make about the movie, and the quality of the writing (which, clearly, you don’t know much about).

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:04 pm
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            Prejudice? Where is the prejudice coming from?

            I am trying to understand where in this film it is CLEARLY explained she can use jedi mind tricks and almost kill the main villain who was trained by both luke and snoke.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:04 pm
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            I think the clue is in the title mate.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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            Ah. The force just magically awakens in her to use jedi mind tricks and defeat the villain easily.

            I get it now.

            Thanks

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:51 pm
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            No problem.

    • December 22, 2015 at 6:58 pm
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      How do you know that she’s completely untrained? Nowhere is it said that KR is a Sith…or Snoke for that fact. Nowhere is it said that KR has been trained very well at all. In fact, the movie makes it an obvious point to show how much of an unhinged peacock wannabe KR actually is.
      Also…she channeled the force, much akin to Luke in Ep IV.

      Did you even watch the movie?

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:19 pm
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        So what’s the point of Kylo being a threat as a villain? It’s like making Maul or Vader not very well trained and being easily beaten. Don’t you see how dumb a film that is?

        And how do we know if she has been trained? Can’t you see the writing stupidity of this film. It’s all a mystery. It’s like Neo doing amazing things in the Matrix, bullet time, running on walls, and the film ends with NO EXPLANATION whatsoever as to how he’s able to do those things. But it getting explained in the second film, still does not negate the first film being written irresponsibly

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:38 pm
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          It’s called character DEVELOPMENT. They are developing Kylo Ren into a villain…this movie shows his duality and vulnerability. By the way, Maul had zero character development…same with Qui Gon. When they both died, I was like, “meh”. Just wait…Kylo will end up being very powerful once his training is complete.

          And the original Matrix was brilliant…the sequels were shadows of the original. You don’t need an explanation for everything…oh wait…maybe YOU do. To each their own I guess.

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:44 pm
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            I gotta say, I love your screen name, OB1. That was actually the exact nickname some of us had for a friend of ours when I lived in Japan many years back. Her name was Shinobu, but we called her OB1 Shinobi from time to time. 😉

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:55 pm
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            But what about THIS film? How do you create a villain in the FIRST film who hardly puts up a proper fight against the hero and gets totally screwed over and ALMOST killed?

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:38 pm
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          Kylo succeeds as a villain because he is a nuanced, and multi-layered character. He’s not some one-note, mustache twirling James Bond villain – he’s unhinged, and unpredictable. That’s what makes him a threat, actually.

          Other that that, we don’t know much, which is kind of the point of SW since the very beginning – the mystery of discovery, and being thrust into a world and characters that we know little about…which is what made SW such a thrill in the first place.

          But, apparently you prefer everything handed to you on a silver platter, with no questions left to be answered when all is said and done? The prequels are there for you if that’s what you prefer, but some of us appreciate that there are still more films left to come to answer those questions. This was only the one act, of a much larger saga.

          You would have really lost your mind had ESB just come out instead, which is understandable, as pretty much the entire planet wanted GL dead after that movie ended.

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:54 pm
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            So…..if Vader or Maul were shown to be a bit more conflicted and “nuanced” and they got owned by Luke/Obi-Wan in the first film, their characters would be better?

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:59 pm
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            See, now you’re just a reaching on the hopes of salvaging something of your atrocious observations and argument in the first place.

            Try actually watching the movie, which was well written and ACTED…and hopefully you see what the rest of us did, without it being HANDED to you.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:06 pm
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            I just wish I saw the film with your eyes, because it was neither well-written or acted by the main lead.

            And I have explained as much as to why that is.

          • December 23, 2015 at 2:40 am
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            If you say so. Apparently, you went into the wrong theater.

            There’s a Chipmunks movie playing, to quench your childlike thirst.

          • December 23, 2015 at 3:15 am
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            At least that film will be more entertaining than this drivel

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:46 pm
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          Yet Obi Wan tells Luke to use the Force against the Death Star when he had all of 5 minutes training on the Falcon.

          • December 22, 2015 at 7:52 pm
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            To fire a bullet. Did he use the force to take down vader? or use jedi mind tricks in the first film?

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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          You know what I’ve always found very bad writing? The fact that Dart Maul just stared at Obi-wan as he jumped around him, instead of cutting him into a million pieces in like a milisecond. Did Star Wars have good villains before TFA? Yes, Darth Vader and Sidious. The rest? What do we know about Dooku, Maul, or Grievous? Litterally nothing. Maul might have just come out direct from a punk festival when the jedi started to mock him…

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:07 pm
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            The FIRST thing you must establish with your antagonist or villain is how powerful they are and how much of a threat they are to our heroes.

            Before character or anything, that is the FIRST responsibility a writer has to a villain.

            Then, you build their character after showing how tough they are.

            Kylo Ren killed some villagers and an unarmed old man.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:24 pm
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            Wasnt stopping a laser blast powerful enough? Wasnt reading their minds so easely powerful? Werent his rants powerful enough? Wasnt the choice to kill his own father (in a sick dark way ofc) a very powerful choice? I think they all was. And besides they told us that the ren knights wiped out the entire new jedi order. And he is the leader of the ren knights. He is trying to copy his grandfather, but indeed he might not be as powerful as Vader. He is pathetic and hated aswell. Imo he is very interessting character and we will see what will they do with him. But way-way better than all villains in the prequels thats for sure.

          • December 22, 2015 at 11:19 pm
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            Holding a laser blast in mid-air.

          • December 23, 2015 at 1:23 am
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            That it? If that poves his strength, how come he gets owned in the finale?

          • December 23, 2015 at 1:51 am
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            Why does the villain need to be incredibly powerful? I know that Vader came pre-loaded as powerful (in the OT), but does that need to happen every time? I like the idea of developing the villain alongside the protagonists.

            And, it’s not like Kylo is exactly helpless either. He already got shot with the bowcaster which had already DESTROYED armored stormtroopers, then got injured by Finn, before chasing an unskilled Rey through the woods. His aggression was a mistake, but bad guys make mistakes too, right?

            I feel that the true villain of the story is Snoke anyways. He’s the one who was destroying whole systems at a time. Ren is villainous, but I’m very excited to see how he develops.

            I feel like your post here kind of accentuates the popular theme of modern stories: we feel like for a story to be good, there HAS to be some nigh-undefeatable villain for our heroes to overcome. In lots of ways, this works, because the protagonists DO need to be challenged, or the story is uninteresting. Thing is, Ren wasn’t the only threat/bad guy available. Ren may have lost that one particular duel, but the First Order still did a ton of damage in this movie, and were less than 30 seconds from outright victory. Just because Ren lost once doesn’t mean our heroes weren’t challenged.

            I guess I’m just confused as to why we can’t also have a “coming of age” story for our villain. We always see the heroes develop from newb to uber, why can’t we see the villain do the same? If you think about it from a development angle, Ren had to dig DEEP to find a way to kill his own father. In a twisted way, he probably grew as much or more than Rey did this movie.

            And, as a side note, my friend who fences as a hobby says that Rey was awful in the fight initially, but that her form and technique got better as the fight went on. We already know she was an accomplished fighter – maybe she was slowly discovering how to apply her other fighting skills to using a lightsaber? All this while Ren slowly bled out of a couple grievous wounds and was likely in extreme mental turmoil over killing his dad? I think without these factors in play, Kylo probably would have defeated Rey easily. We’ll see his prowess soon enough, I’m guessing.

    • December 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm
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      How do you know she wasn’t trained by Luke? You know, like in the past.

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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        It was not hinted at, AT ALL in the film. We see a flashback, her meeting Luke, not knowing who he is, and that’s it. So the film we are given, there is nothing to say she received training. And even if she did, to use jedi mind tricks…that is what a master is supposed to do of an older age. Only person who may be able to do that at maybe an early age is the chosen ONE, Anakin aka Vader

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:21 pm
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          Maybe the prophecy has been misinterpreted? Since the old EU has been thrown out, maybe the prophecy means all of the Skywalker children are Chosen Ones. Think of Link from the Legend of Zelda. I always believed this since Anakin’s posterity have been very strong in the force. We will find out more in the coming stories, you can believe on that. Remember, we only heard 1/3 of the story.

    • December 22, 2015 at 7:34 pm
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      Have you seen ANY Star Wars movies? Did you ask Lucas how a Farm boy could blow up the Death Star without a targeting computer?

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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        That was Luke’s ONLY use of the force in the ENTIRE film and it was the critical moment and point of it.

        Please forward me the version of A New Hope where Luke is an amazing pilot, mechanic, can use jedi mind tricks, never needs any help and defeats vader easily.

        • December 22, 2015 at 8:00 pm
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          Staw Man. You are saying Luke has help (Han coming back, Obi-Wan’s Voice) and comparing it story-wise to Rey, who you say has no help.

          But she did have help. Chewbacca shot him in the belly, Finn already dueled him with a lightsaber, and just possibly killing his father put him on edge.

          I would also argue that her Jedi-Mind-Tricking the crap out of that stormtrooper was meant to imply that part of her unknown past included force training.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:05 pm
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            Was meant? So we are not doing a guess work in a motion picture?

            And did she ever have DIRECT help? As in someone coming in to help her out like Han and Obi-Wan did for Luke?

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:07 pm
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            Yes, thats what I said. Chewbacca shot him and Finn already dueled him.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:23 pm
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            A pretty useless dark-side user that because of that, almost gets killed by someone who just started using the force

        • December 22, 2015 at 10:46 pm
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          Luke deflected blaster bolts from a remote on his 3rd try…BLIND.
          Luke could hear Obi-Wan Kenobi talk to him through the force.
          Luke force pulled his light saber in the Wampa Cave while being injured and hanging upside down from ice.

          Comparing a conflicted Kylo Ren, who clearly is more skilled with mind control than light saber combat, with Darth Vader is laughable. Even he knows he’s not as powerful.

    • December 22, 2015 at 7:43 pm
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      Did you forget the fact that aside from being shot with a DIRECT hit in the side from chewie’s blaster (which you were given plenty of opportunities in the film to realize how much damage it can do), he also took a few hits from Finn in his lightsaber duel. You take a shot from chewie, run to catch up with escaping enemies, muster up the energy to fight not 1 but 2 enemies w/ no injuries (and 1 having the force on their side) and let me know how well you’d fare in a lightsaber duel.

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:53 pm
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        He is a TRAINED fighter, and because of a shot to his belly he gets TOTALLED completely by an untrained scavenger who just started using the force a few minutes ago?

        Don’t use the force, use logic, my friend

        • December 22, 2015 at 7:54 pm
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          The Force isn’t supposed to be logical. That’s the whole point.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:07 pm
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            Actually that’s not true. Writers can defy logic with fantastic magic systems in their stories that have no realistic foundations whatsoever, but any good magic system needs rules. And once the rules have been established, you have to play within those rules, no matter what. Otherwise, your story will feel contrived and lose credibility.

            If there’s no explanation as to how Rey was able to do all that she did in the film’s third act, the film will lose a LOT of credibility and this will harm the ST as a whole, because this goes against everything that Lucas established about the Force in the previous 6 films.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:21 pm
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            I guess I just don’t see what about Rey’s story defies the “predetermined” rules about the force. The Force does a lot of new things in each movie.

            4.You can mind trick people, you can become a disembodied voice when you die, you can aim good.

            5. Now you can move objects, size matters not, you can be a ghost, you can force jump.

            6. Now you can build lightsabers, feel peoples presence at a distance, shoot lightning out of your hands. (also conveniently, now some beings cannot be mind tricked)

            1. Now you can use force speed.

            2. Now you can grab lightning in your lightsaber, and your hand.

            What I’m getting at is the force does a lot of different things depending on what the story calls for.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:27 pm
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            All those things were done by trained Force users (except for Luke’s shot at the Death Star, which was obviously him trusting his instinct and it only took him an instant to squeeze the trigger. That’s a completely different thing to dueling a well trained Force-wielding warrior for a few minutes.)

            I will wait to see if there is an explanation to justify Rey’s lightning quick progress in the ways of the Force before passing judgment on her current “Mary Sue” status.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:30 pm
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            Luke grabs his lightsaber with the force in the snow monster’s cave without force training.

            I personally saw her strength as implying previous training, not as a writing flaw.

            I think that is the basic point we disagree on.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:38 pm
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            Without Force training? Obi-Wan spent the whole way from Tatooine to where Alderaan once stood training Luke in the ways of the Force. Not saying Luke was that far ahead in his training, but at least the foundations had been laid by old Ben on theory, at least. Because in the end, we don’t know how many hours they spent discussing the Force inside the Falcon while traveling through hyperspace.

            I also feel that Rey had some previous training, which is why I said I won’t pass judgment on her till we get an explanation. I just hope the explanation makes sense. Keep in mind that my comment was a reply to NYJD21, who claimed that there’s no logic to the Force. I strongly disagree, that’s all.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:40 pm
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            Its the will of the Force.

            It literally could be as simple as that. And the ‘logic’ of judging how much time is spent with Ben or Yoda is just as faulty. Ben said it was his “first step” – a first step of being able to block laser blasts blindfolded…..pretty damn big step.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:07 pm
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            Really? Then how come the Force didn’t will Anakin to stay on the right path that it had laid out for him since it decided to conceive the boy? How come the Force let the dark side take over the galaxy as Palpatine rose?

            Isn’t this one of people’s biggest complaints about Anakin in Ep. 1? That the kid was able to blow up the Trade Federation’s droid control ship in a terribly lame way?

            If this was the will of the Force, then I see no reason to complain. And again, it’s not the same thing to see a 9/10 yr. old kid get lucky by pressing buttons right and left, than to see a complete newcomer to the Force stand toe to toe with a well trained, Force-wielding warrior, let alone come out on top by the end of their clash.

            Double standards don’t hold for long, friend, especially when based on smoke and mirrors designed to try to justify something that doesn’t make any sense without a good explanation.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:14 pm
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            haha, Anakin was the ‘Chosen One’ though.

            The Droid ship was just as lame as an auxiliary exhaust port causing the destruction of a superweapon.

            There’s plenty of logic to Kylo Ren being bested – the dude is a punk wannabe. Its as simple as that. And it showed.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:18 pm
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            Yeah, and Rey may be the Chosen One’s direct blood descendant, along with Kylo. But this doesn’t mean that just because you have a lot of money you automatically will know how to invest it wisely as opposed to throwing it away stupidly.

            I wasn’t speaking of Kylo’s defeat. That was pretty clear to me. I was speaking of Rey’s sudden mastery of the Force, which is a completely different thing altogether.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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            Rey must have the OT an PT on dvd, that would explain how her attempt at a mind trick is so familiar, how would she think to phrase it the way she did?… unless shes trained of course, or the script is fkd

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:30 pm
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            I have a pretty strong feeling she’s been trained before. There’s an article on this site where J.J. said the flashback sequence was supposed to have more to it but they decided to cut scenes out to not give too much away. I’m buying the mind wipe theory more and more just because we’ve yet to see an explanation as to why she sees and island in an ocean in her dreams/thoughts as told to us by Ben when he’s attempting to infiltrate her mind. Maybe the novelization will expand upon that though.

            Would it make sense to say that the flashback sequence shows she’s a skywalker considering the sequences in order go from the oldest to most recent in the skywalker line (first scene is vader’s breathing and rey’s in the corridor of Luke and Vader’s Duel on Bespin, I think the second scene was of Luke and R2, the following one featured Ben Solo-Skywalker, and after that Rey (skywalker?) though I guess that idea wouldn’t follow since Leia isn’t included so nvm.

          • December 22, 2015 at 11:18 pm
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            She was familiar with the Jedi myth. She probably heard about it and decided to try it. Its all about belief.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:32 pm
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            What rules?

            That you have to believe in your ability to do something? We’ve actually never seen a Jedi train other than Luke with Yoda, which we’ve already established could have been a week at most, and he gets his butt kicked by an amused Vader – yet prior to that he’s shooting Stromtroopers one-handed, hitting small cameras one-handed, shooting past 20 Stormtroopers to hit a door toggle, then going from flying an atmospheric skyhopper to fight off Imperial FULLY TRAINED pilots and using the Force to guide 2 proton torpedoes into a 6ft diameter hole.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:00 pm
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            The saga has made it quite clear that mastery of the Force comes in levels. Hence the terms Jedi Youngling, Padawan Learner, Knight and Master. And there’s plenty of examples of this:

            The Council didn’t feel that Obi-Wan was ready to be knighted, as he claimed in Ep. I.

            Yoda told Obi-Wan that he wasn’t strong enough to face the Emperor in Ep. III.

            Yoda and Obi-Wan warned Luke that he wasn’t ready to face Vader in Ep. V.

            It’s one thing to blow up a target on instinct and a completely different thing altogether to know how to apply a trick on a weak mind to hypnotize it for a few seconds, consciously.

            But you can relax. I wasn’t speaking for or against Rey’s sudden, unexpected mastery of a few aspects of the Force. I was merely saying that there has got to be logic to ANY magic system developed for a fantasy tale, and that it follows certain rules. If you think rules is too strong a word, then let’s call them guidelines. Either way, they’re there and they’re plain to see for anyone who uses a little logic, precisely.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:35 pm
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            Oh, shut you nerd. Get out and get laid stop being so anal!

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:44 pm
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            Lol, if you were smart you’d actually be funny.

        • December 22, 2015 at 8:12 pm
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          Haha are you f*cking serious? I’ve had friends in the army that have been shot. you’re telling me they’re lying about not being able to move or carry things because they took a shot or were caught in shrapnel? they’re trained fighters as well. LOGICALLY a human being who was CLEARLY conflicted internally with the dark and light, a human being who had JUST killed their father and was clearly reflecting on it, a human being who was JUST SHOT by a direct hit by a weapon which would KNOCK BACK storm troopers in full armor or BLOW UP areas struck, a human being who was BLEEDING OUT and stabbed/cut with a lightsaber should NOT be expected to keep up in a fight that requires stamina and strength. Or maybe you’re just an ubermensch and us normal people don’t actually understand pain. Last I checked being a trained warrior does not equate with taking less pain from injuries. Kylo ren was a PARTIALLY trained fighter who never completed his training. We only have inferences of what Snoke could have taught him. We don’t even know if that guy is a damn sith. Furthermore, its pretty fair to say the last time Ren had to have a life or death duel was when he slaughtered all of the students at Luke’s Academy/School/Whatever. For x years he has not been challenged by a force user, and has not had to actually FIGHT anyone with his saber. There’s a difference between theoretical and practical knowledge. In no way shape or form is it illogical to assume that this guy could be overwhelmed after everything that had happened in the film.

          • December 22, 2015 at 8:59 pm
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            So he’s a useless villain then. We are not to take him seriously and he’s of no real threat.

            Can’t you see the problem? A film like star wars needs a FORMIDABLE villain as it puts our heroes in danger and adds drama, forcing them to have to work to achieve their goal.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:02 pm
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            they did have to work. They worked together. His father calls him back to the light, Chewbacca shoots him in the chest, Finn Duels him, and then Rey duels him, and she doesn’t really defeat him, the worst she does is cut his face. So Ren gets to kill a person and put another on life support, and escapes with a cut on his face and a shot in the belly. all this 4 on 1 or 3 on 1. its not like he’s a weakling, but he’s also not all powerful.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:22 pm
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            How does that make him a useless villain? Its plainly apparent that this series is going to focus on not just the heroes’ journey but the villain’s as well. I commend them for this approach personally. In ANH as well as in the majority of films we know our “big bad” right off the bat was Vader, in this the big bad is Snoke. But just as our big hero is Luke, we’re going to see the development of a nobody into our new hero (being Rey) and the development of a fledgling bad guy into our big villain (ben to ren). I think it makes for a more gripping story if we can see the evolution of the baddie instead of just giving us kylo ren as a dark side powerhouse from the start. I mean just looking at the villains of history I’d think you might agree that if you were inclined to watch a documentary on Hitler, or Jeffrey Dahmer, etc it would be more interesting to see how the monster went from our common starting line to becoming who they are instead of just watching a documentary on what they did. I think watching the transformation will be much more rewarding because its already clear they’re projecting relationships and emotions between characters better than the prequels did. Again, I mentioned in a post on another topic but in the first scene w/ Finn and Poe we saw a bromantic brotherhood established… something the prequels couldn’t do in 6 hours between Anakin and Obi-Wan. If they can show this depth of character and transformation between our force users over the course of the trilogy, I believe we could be in for a treat.
            A good villain shouldn’t be an invulnerable one. I think the best villains are the ones that are incredibly human or relatable. The ones that seem like they could really come to be. And I don’t doubt that ep viii is going to be darker and explore these themes.
            But that’s my opinion lol and we’re all entitled to our own because at the end of the day… I really don’t have any more facts than you do and that’s what makes this fun!

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:05 pm
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      hope this answers your question

      • December 22, 2015 at 8:49 pm
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        perfection

      • December 22, 2015 at 9:03 pm
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        When I remember to laugh, I’ll get back to you

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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          don’t try too hard. I know how hard it is for cynical people to express human emotion.

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:12 pm
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      They establish pretty early in the film that Rey is an accomplished martial artist in her own right. Regardless of Force capabilities.

      • December 22, 2015 at 8:59 pm
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        hahaha! What?! She’s bruce lee? Must have missed that. When did they show that?

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:04 pm
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          When she beats up the two thugs trying to steal bb8. keep up.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:27 pm
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            Thank you.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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          You got told hahahaha. Stick to the matrix movies little boy.

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:15 pm
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      Also, Rey’s flashback scene upon first grasping Luke/Anakin’s old lightsaber, with the voices of Yoda, Luke, and Obi-wan speak volumes as to her inherent force abilities.
      In fact, it’s the exact ability that is described in great detail in “Dark Disciple” used by Qui-Lan Vos that she shows here.

      Remember, all of the “Journey to the Force Awakens” books all contain clues concerning characters and events in TFA, as stated by JJ, Hidalgo, and Kennedy.

      I’d call that one hell of a clue.

      • December 22, 2015 at 8:56 pm
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        No, I am a film watcher, not a star wars fanboy.

        I should not have to read books to be given the full story of a film I have paid to watch.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:05 pm
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          This we can agree on.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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          Exactly. SW isn’t TLotR, Potter, Hunger Games or A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s a film series, which means the films should be self-explanatory. Some people just can’t get it through their heads that having to read “companion books” to fully understand the film is beyond ridiculous.

          I don’t remember having to buy any Batman comics to understand Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, anymore than I had to buy any of those old SW EU novels to get the previous 6 films. This is just a cheap, low marketing ploy by Disney to make even more money out of SW.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:22 pm
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            It’s disgusting.

            Buy the toys for more story

            Buy the books for more story

            Buy the comics for more story

            Pay for the sequel for more story

            This is not how films should be. They should stand alone and other media should just EXPAND on the story.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:56 pm
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            But ESB, one of the best movies ever, isn’t self-explanatory. We are told that Vader is Luke’s father but that directly contradicted what Kenobi said in ANH. Viewers then didn’t know how to explain Vader’s revelation. Yoda also said that there is another chosen one but we are never told who that person is in ESB.. We had to wait three years for ROTJ to answer those questions. So no, Star Wars doesn’t need every film to be self-explanatory for it to be great. You are incorrect sir.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:05 pm
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            Dude, that was to setup the climactic, third act in the OT! And we did learn all about Vader’s true identity and the other that Yoda spoke of in the next film, not on some book.

            All the other stuff (Kylo’s fall, Snoke’s origins, Rey’s mysterious past, etc.) would be the equivalent of what you’re talking about, and I expect to see some of this, at least, explained in the next 2 films, exactly as Lucas did in the OT.

            So I’m sorry, but your comparison is way off. I’m speaking of learning who the hell was Max Von Sydow’s character, for instance. Or why the First Order could apparently go about the galaxy destroying villages and/or fortresses so freely, when it’s clearly not the Empire and there is supposed to be a New Republic to watch over the FO’s doings.

            I don’t see why I should have to buy some book to learn this, when it wouldn’t have taken anything other than a short couple of scenes or lines of dialogue to be explained (as all the things you mentioned were explained in RotJ). Frankly, it is a scam to me.

          • December 22, 2015 at 11:33 pm
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            Why do you think you need to buy a book? Did you need to buy a book for ANH when they talked about how they dissolved the Senate overtime? Did you need a book about the Clone Wars to explain what that war was? Or who Jabba the Hutt was? Or what about how Vader was seduced by the dark side? Those answers came decades later. Perhaps those are comparable examples to your point?

            Also, I will say that the First Order used Starkiller once. Hux says that in the movie that they just finished it and only use it once on the Hosnian Prime system. As for the Von Snydow character I do not know but I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke knows him and mentions him in ep 8

          • December 23, 2015 at 12:29 am
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            I don’t think I have to buy a book. Tons of other people do, though. Every time you note this or that wasn’t clear in the film, you get the same reply: “this will be explained in X, Y or Z book. If you want to know, buy the book.”

            I wasn’t referring to Starkiller. For as lame as seeing yet another Death Star-like weapon was, at least this plot point was pretty straight forward. I was talking about the attack on the Jakku village and then on Maz’s castle. Again, why can the F.O. commit these atrocities and go unpunished, when unlike the Empire, they’re not supposed to be in control of the whole galaxy? This is what I’d like to know.

            I hope you’re right about Von Sydow’s character. He seemed like an intriguing guy to me, based on his enigmatic words to Poe. I do wish this is not one of those cases where you’ll have to buy a novel starring the character to know more about him.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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          You’re a moron. You’ve got a matrix garbage reloaded pic up…..says it all really lol. The first matrix movie was great..everything else is pure garbage.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:55 pm
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            When you find a brain to engage in debate, get back to me

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:33 pm
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            When you finally get a life and stop bitching like a little girl you can then change your picture. However, never get back to me……..why the hell would I or anyone for that matter want to have a conversation with you. You’re a loser of epic proportions. Here’s some advice…….don’t write or talk.

        • December 23, 2015 at 2:38 am
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          Never said you should have to read the books. Merely pointing out that there are plenty of nuggets that flesh things out in an organic way, as opposed to what would just end up being absolutly horrible and boring exposition on screen, for those with ADD that apparently need everything spoon fed to them.

        • December 23, 2015 at 3:38 am
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          No one is ever going to say that if you’re not a Star Wars fan you won’t find obvious flaws in the movie.

          You will. You’ll find plenty. In all of them. Prequel, Original, and New.

          But it’s now apart of the Disney experience that they’re going to be kind enough to feed us information they had to cut from the films in books that is actually canon, and not just filler someone was paid to make up.

          It’s not to make more money, it’s to round out the story that is impossible to tell inside of 2 hours and change.

          Again, if not a Star Wars fan, I can see why this would be irritating. But it’s the way of a cinematic Universe that has always had more fluff in it outside of the films.

          • December 23, 2015 at 4:41 am
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            Poor. So they are making this SOLELY for star wars fans and not regular film goers who enjoy watching all kinds of films that give them a full story.

          • January 5, 2016 at 5:36 pm
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            You didn’t…read my post, did you?

          • December 23, 2015 at 2:21 pm
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            Episode 5 has no flaws.

  • December 22, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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    Just to follow up on my other question.

    JJ, Laurence….as two writers, how do you create a main villain who only killed DEFENCELESS villagers and an UNARMED old man on a bridge, and call that a threat to be feared?

    • December 22, 2015 at 7:34 pm
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      Snoke is the threat to be feared. Kylo Ren is a bully that loses his composure when someone fights back with the force. As soon as he found out Rey was powerful in the force he became fearful. And he becomes more afraid when he realizes that Rey is more powerful than him (possibly Luke’s child).

      • December 22, 2015 at 7:57 pm
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        So basically….Kylo Ren is a useless villain?

        If so, why make him the main threat? You then remove all drama of the film if he is so crap and the hero can beat him so easily.

        • December 22, 2015 at 8:11 pm
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          Because his story isn’t done yet. He hasn’t been trained by Snoke. Snoke is going to train him now to make him a powerful enemy. It appears he wasn’t fully trained because there was not a powerful opposition yet and Kylo had to prove himself by embracing the dark side and killing his father (which Snoke describes as a test he’s never faced)

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:01 pm
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            Now put on your film hat and remove your star wars hat. I get what you are saying, and it’s interesting that you have a dark side user flirting back with the light.

            But as a film, like star wars that is the classic hero vs. villain, light vs. dark. Don’t you see the problem of having the villain so conflicted and not purely evil in the first film? Sure, let him flirt with being good, but getting beaten so easily and concocting a story where he’s not been fully trained detracts from how powerful your villain is, thus making the hero’s work easier and finally removing any drama the audience feels in the film.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:25 pm
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            Drama = conflict
            Ren is a conflicted psycho with force powers and a letheal lightsaber, killing a lot of people and working with the evil nazi like First Order who just committed genocide if it’s nothing. Hmm.. I don’t see your problem at all.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:55 pm
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            But what did we see Kylo DO that showed how evil and POWERFUL he was?

            Why should we fear him if we saw rey totally destroy him?

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:14 pm
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            Because he’s still alive, and he’s about to have his training completed.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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            Fear him because he’s still alive and he hasn’t done anything for us to know how powerful he is?

          • December 22, 2015 at 11:09 pm
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            That mystery is pretty interesting.

          • December 23, 2015 at 3:34 am
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            Awful Troll is awful at trolling.

          • December 22, 2015 at 11:02 pm
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            1. Freeze laser bolt in mid air, probe minds, force choke and freeze = powerful with the force, no doubt about that. Pure by actions he is on screen more powerful than Darth Vader in ANH. More evil also as we don’t see Vader getting satisfaction from killing. In ANH we see a more emotionally dettached kind of killing by vader. So I would say by SW standards Kylo Ren is very powerful and very evil. The only thing that really compares is Anakin’s killing of the younglings.
            2. We didnt see Rey ‘totaly destroy’ him. We say a frightened girl getting lucky by gaining focus through the force against a more powerful and aggressive Kylo Ren.
            So I don’t see your problem with it.

  • December 22, 2015 at 7:44 pm
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    Dear JJ and LK, Thanks for making a movie that I was fully satisfied with. I would have been very picky, easily left unsatisfied. I was actually a little skeptical.
    Even if I was disappointed, I would keep it mostly to myself and not whine about it on a FAN site.

    • December 22, 2015 at 8:34 pm
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      Prequels were better lol

      • December 22, 2015 at 8:48 pm
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        the prequels had no story nor was the politics interesting…comparing TFA to the prequels is like comparing TFA to twilight

      • December 22, 2015 at 9:36 pm
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        You’re an idiot. Please, leave your stupid opinion to yourself. Better still don’t talk to anyone about star wars…..you’re guaranteed to say something stupid.

        • December 22, 2015 at 10:41 pm
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          Well that’s your opinion bro. A lot of people like me were pretty disappointed. TFA was basically just a new hope with cgi…

      • December 23, 2015 at 2:19 pm
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        Prequels did have a better overall story, but also terrible dialogue, painfully dull acting, idiotic attempts at comedy (fart jokes), ridiculous action sequences (conveyer belt), ugly cgi, pacing issues and any scene with the jedi council just ground the films to a halt.

        The prequels were ambitious failures. Episode VII is dumb success.

  • December 22, 2015 at 8:19 pm
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    A young woman who is superior both mentally and physically to her male adversity. I can see why a certain type of person may have big problems accepting that.

    • December 22, 2015 at 9:26 pm
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      That would be male “adversary”, not adversity. And gender has nothing to do with it. Just because a 5 year old with a genius level IQ has more potential than a 25 year old working on a Master’s degree doesn’t mean that the 5 year old still has a long way to go just to reach the 25 year old’s level. It’s a little thing called experience.

      • December 22, 2015 at 9:35 pm
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        The force dude, the Force. Sometimes the Force allows things to happen to a person regardless of inexperience. See Luke in ANH.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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          Right? Its like people think Kylo Ren has been grinding the real life Force MMORGP longer than Rey so he should have a more finished skill tree.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:40 pm
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          It does. But Luke’s only Force-induced moment in ANH was akin to him completing a “Hail Mary” bomb when the clock is at 0:00. Rey’s accomplishments were like engineering a full, 2-minute drill at QB, without any previous experience at the position (except for throwing a few practice passes in Pee Wee league, perhaps). And just because she has a cannon for an arm that doesn’t automatically turn her into Tom Brady, you know?

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:44 pm
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            Dude you are creating so many restraints that the movie doesn’t make you create for Rey. In the prequels we see very young students learning stuff that Luke doesn’t get until he is 19. Anakin is originally told he is too old. At 11 or less he is too old to start. I don’t think it is impossible for Rey to have learned A Ton of force powers between when she is born and when she is marooned on Jakku. 4, 5, 6, maybe 7 years of training? That is more than Luke ever got. Don’t call it Pee Wee league. You just don’t know.

          • December 22, 2015 at 9:51 pm
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            I haven’t created any restraints. As someone who tells stories for a living, I know what works and what doesn’t in a story’s structure.

            Even if Rey’s sudden “awakening” is explained fully in Ep. VIII, this was set up poorly, because TFA failed to show us a single scene that would lead us to believe that she had previous training. The vision at Maz’s castle only hinted at her probably being related to the whole tragedy at Luke’s temple, and that she is Force-sensitive, of course.

            The people defending this flaw in the film are only doing so because it’s Star Wars. Since I do this kind of thing for a living, I always look at things objectively. Ask yourself if you wouldn’t find this a little bit off, at least, if it were just any “regular” film.

            A scene where Rey did something instinctive with the Force prior to her awakening, would’ve gone a long way in establishing what was to come in the final act). Foreboding always goes a long way to help a storyteller get his/her point across in a much more organic way.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:00 pm
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            About that, we just disagree. For me, the scene that shows she is force sensitive is obviously the vision in the castle. The scene that implies she’s had training is the mind trick. Its so complicated and specific, that from a story point of view it doens’t make sense for it to have come out of no where. But it makes perfect sense from the point of view that she has had training and is having a sort of jason bourne moment. This is the seventh film in the story, it doesn’t have to stand on its own.

            I promise I’m not saying this “just because its star wars”. There is all sorts of nonsense in the prequels I wouldn’t explain away that lazily. I really like Star Trek as well and I didn’t like the way JJ handled Into Darkeness.

            And please don’t patronize me with your “I do this for a living” garbage. That might be true but it doesn’t give you carte blanche to be right about storytelling. Roger Ebert was the best film reviewer of all time, and when he wrote a screenplay, it was garbage, so the two don’t go hand in hand.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:20 pm
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            The vision at the castle does explain that Rey is Force-sensitive. I did say that in my previous post. The scene where she uses a mind trick to free herself is wide open to interpretation, though. Even if this means she had some previous training, it was obviously at a very early age, since Rey doesn’t look older than 5 or 6 when she gets dumped on Jakku. And as I said on another post, just because the girl was taught some basic math, that shouldn’t turn her into an expert physicist of the sudden.

            As for the film standing alone, did you even read my previous post? I CLEARLY said that this may be explained in VIII, but that the set up was poor. That’s all. And there’s nothing wrong with pointing this out nor does it take anything away from TFA as an entertaining film. It just means that the whole thing could’ve been set up in a much more clever way.

            I am not patronizing you or anyone else. I just know how to write a story, period. Not everyone likes my work, and I’m perfectly fine with that. But at least I haven’t had one single naysayer accuse me of pulling out contrived Deus ex machinas or not setting up a future, important reveal, only to get my characters out of trouble, without thinking hard of the best way to introduce this sort of elements into my stories.

            This doesn’t give me carte blanche to be right about anything, but it does provide me with the necessary knowledge to tell a flaw in a story when I see one. I never said I’m a film critic, btw, or even a filmmaker. I said I’m a storyteller, and there’s many ways to tell a story other than writing a screenplay. So your Roger Ebert comparison is way off, I’m afraid.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:33 pm
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            You mean Deus ex Machinas like Han and chewie coming out of nowhere and blasting Darth Vader just about when He was about to destroy our hero?

            I’m not saying it is perfect storytelling or profound, just that its not asking you to suspend your disbelief anymore than previous installments.

            I wasn’t using that example of Ebert to say you were a critic or a filmmaker just trying to show that someone is allowed to discuss storytelling without being a storyteller.

            And finally, we keep going back and forth about this. You think there is no way she could have been well trained as a child. I think she could have. we are just going in circles about this.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:42 pm
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            Well, Lucas clearly hinted at Han and Chewie coming back, if you were paying attention, which is exactly what I’m talking about: foreboding. But just for the sake of argument, I’ll say yes, just like that. And this doesn’t take away anything out of my enjoyment of TFA, much less was it as important a part of the plot as establishing your new protagonist’s traits.

            Just as my final note, I do believe we do agree that this has to be explained at some point, because otherwise it is beyond the most tolerant suspension of disbelief that I can think of.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:47 pm
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            Sure. I agree with that.

            Option 1: We learn she has been trained before. TFA makes sense.

            Option 2: We learn she has not been trained. TFA makes no sense.

            Option 3: We don’t learn either way, and we are back where we started.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:55 pm
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            Lol. I’d say that’s pretty much it, yeah.

      • December 22, 2015 at 9:47 pm
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        Experience as in spending 15 plus years living on a harsh desert environment where forced to fend for one self at such a very young age. Armed with only a staff as a means of defence against stronger and a greater number of opponents. Physically conditioned through years of scavenging amongst discarded space vehicles.

        Unfortunately for some, gender has everything to do with it.

        • December 22, 2015 at 9:54 pm
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          Experience as in knowing how to use the Force consciously instead of instinctively. Just because someone knows that 1+1=2 that doesn’t mean they’ll automatically know how to do complex equations, men or women all the same.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:09 pm
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            Prior to Jakku, Rey most likely grew up surrounded by force sensitive users. If she is a Skywalker (most likely), then she would be fully aware of what force users are capable of. These memories started to come back to her after Kylo Ren tried to interrogate her on Starkiller Base. Ren even makes a remark about it in the film.

            Luke Skywalker was never surrounded by the force. His teachings didn’t begin until Obi-Wan entered his life.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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            Luke, we know this for a fact. Rey is just speculation on your part. Your guess is an educated one, I admit, but even if you are right about this, growing up surrounded by expert physicists as a kid doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll be the world’s next Einstein or Hawking without going to college first.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:33 pm
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            But Rey is gifted with a similar or even greater ability to use the force.

          • December 22, 2015 at 10:36 pm
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            Yes, but she still has to learn the proper way to use it. Even the “Chosen One” (or at least the most powerful Force-user in the waning days of the Old Republic) had to train hard in order to harness his amazing power and learn to use it correctly.

            It’s the most obvious thing in the world and the previous 6 films have made it quite clear. Plus it doesn’t really take anything away from TFA as entertainment. It just makes the film not as good as its predecessors in this sense.

          • December 23, 2015 at 2:27 pm
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            I am not so sure Rey grew up surrounded by force sensitives. I haven’t read the novelization yet, but if the timeline in SWNN review is correct, Luke’s Jedi academy was probably destroyed before Rey was born and when Kylo was still about 10 years old. The reviewer’s timeline may be wrong though.

          • December 23, 2015 at 5:45 pm
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            If she turns out to be Luke’s daughter, then she would have done. If she’s not his daughter maybe her parents were both force sensitive.

  • December 22, 2015 at 8:26 pm
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    That was a great conversation to listen to. Thanks for posting it.

  • December 22, 2015 at 8:29 pm
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    “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

    Lots of little clues and nuggets of info in the books that have that script at the top, that explain many of questions some here have concerning TFA. Sadly, most will miss them having not read these books…the rest of us will simply smile during some scenes, and silently say “Ah Haaaaaa!” 😉

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9ad4a84682a726996156af71bcbcbb07438d22fae0fdfdb098b66c151091190b.jpg

  • December 22, 2015 at 9:01 pm
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    I really enjoyed TFA, and i did like how the audience was not spoon fed everything like a children’s tv show. In fact one of my issues with the film was the way a necessary but badly handled piece of exposition was handled. The scene where Han and Leia where talking about Ben and the back story they where literally talking at the audience, they may as well have looked at the camera. Having said that TFA has left many of us with questions, issues and doubts about the writing for reasons we have all debated lately like Reys sudden knowledge of the force. How 8 and 9 play out will decide where TFA stands for me.

    Do you guys trust JJ and Kasdan have planned the story well enough that it will work out nicely as the story progresses with reveals, explanations and twists… or do you guys think that the story isn’t that well planned and they have dumped Rian Johnson in the garbage compactor ?

    • December 22, 2015 at 10:31 pm
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      Well they talked about their story group and getting a ton of creative minds on the topic and to lay out a good enough foundation that they could go forward and make a compelling interlinked trilogy… I trust them. Kennedy is pretty much one of the greatest film producers of all time. The people she’s worked with like JJ certainly are creative enough and big enough fans who understand what makes Star Wars tick, that I trust them all, quite frankly. I’m glad we have a young, serious director taking on the next episode. I have a feeling it really could be the Empire of this trilogy. My ONLY concern is Treverow for Episode 9. I just don’t feel Jurassic World was strong at all, and it makes me nervous for 9, but then I don’t know what else he has done, hopefully I’m wrong.

      • December 23, 2015 at 1:14 am
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        I feel the same on all points. It’s the biggest film ever, they have to had thought about it carefully. I trust that the questions will be answered.There is still time to petition against treverow =)

  • December 22, 2015 at 9:17 pm
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    Honesty, if Rey is a mary sue, then Indiana Jones is the stupidest character of all time.

  • December 22, 2015 at 11:19 pm
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    God dammit JJ seems to be such a nice guy. 😀

  • December 23, 2015 at 2:01 am
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    Kasdan saved SW. He deserved the status of co creator of the franchise.

  • December 23, 2015 at 3:53 am
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    I think Star Wars has always had cool looking villains, They’ve always been performed well too.

    In this one however (with the exception of maybe Kylo Ren) I think they had the weakest because a) They lacked competence b) There was very little characterization of their characters.

    Much as I don’t want to see an Empire remake for VII, I think the bad guys have to win in order to restore credibility to the First Order.

    • December 23, 2015 at 5:30 am
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      The First Order just destroyed the homeworld of the Republic.

      • December 23, 2015 at 6:26 am
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        Exactly. One super-weapon planet lost for the First Order versus five planets they destroyed. I think the bad guys won in TFA.

        • December 23, 2015 at 3:26 pm
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          But did they specify all were inhabitated? In SW, Planets are like countries meaning not all of them are as densly populated as Coruscant due to how many choices they have to live on. The Capital was probably heavily populated but the rest could have been preserves or supply depots.

          • December 25, 2015 at 8:07 am
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            Inhabited?

      • December 23, 2015 at 3:24 pm
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        More due to the New Republic’s laziness in going after them. They still controlled a minority of the galaxy vs the Empire.

  • December 23, 2015 at 8:42 am
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    Kylo Ren was wounded by Chewie and Finn before Rey got to him which is why she wupped him so hard. That coupled with Rey tapping into the Force and her survilval/combat skills developed on Jakuu put Rey on top. I think it makes perfect sense how she won. Kylo in opinion was a bad ass villian just Rey was a bit better this round. Cant wait for what comes next!

    • December 23, 2015 at 2:36 pm
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      How was Finn capable of injuring Kylo though after BTW Kylo had already injured him ? Does that say something about Finn being potentially string with the force ?

    • December 25, 2015 at 2:35 am
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      Upon multiple viewings, it’s seems clear to me that Rey also mined Kylo Ren for some good info, and perhaps some small amount of force info, during the interrogation scene when she pushed back on him pretty hard, and realized that he wants to be more like Vader…someone I doubt very much that she had any previous knowledge of.

  • December 25, 2015 at 8:08 am
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    Never realized how much Kasdan and Zemeckis looked alike till now.

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